Combined base and back structure for loose-leaf binders and method of forming the same



July 22, 1930. R. M. WATSON 1,771,104

COMBINED BASE AND BACK STRUCTURE FOR LOOSE LEAF BINDERS AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME Filed April 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 N VEN TOR.

J and MMfson /g j A TTORNEY.

July 22, 1930. R. M. WATSON 1,771,104

COMBINED BASE AND BACK STRUCTURE FOR LOOSE LEAF BINDERS AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME Filed April 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. fic'bara JVK 14 41 077 my ATTORNEY.

Patented July 22, 1930 UNITED STA RICHARD M. WATSON, or DETROIT, MIGHIGAN COMBINED BASE AND BACK STRUCTURE r012. LOOSE-ELEAF IBINDERS AND METHOD or roma ne rnnssmn r Application filed April 27,

This invention relates to a combined base and back structure for loose leaf binders and method of forming the same. It has to do particularly with the-more expensive type of loose leaf binder utilizing cloth fastening means instead of rivets and the like.

Hereotfore, in the manufacture of loose leaf binders of the type having cloth fastening means, it has been the usual'practice to make the leaf binding mechanism proper of two separate pieces or-shells, and to utilize a third metallic member which is glued to the back of the binder and which is connected to the two-piece shell structure in various ways. The manufacture and assembly of this former type of binder has been very expensive both as to material used and as to cost of assembly.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a binder mechanism with a one-piece base member and an attaching member there for completely concealed by the one-piece base member, whereby said attaching member may be formed or fabricated from any cheap unfinished material.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the fabrication of a novel attaching member and manner of securing the same to a cloth member, which in turn may be glued to the back of the binder to present a very neat and smooth back, and at the same time present a very compact and permanent back 7 structure. 1 r

A still further feature resides in the novel manner of fabricating the attaching member and'the base structure and method of assembling the same, wherebythe base structure presents a contiguous, smooth, flat surface the entire length thereof, and is'quickly and se curely attached to the attaching member. By this construction it is onlynecessary to have one shell of finished material, the attaching member being concealed and thusformed of any suitable unfinished material.

' Other features willbe' brought out in-the specification and claims.

In'the drawingszr Fig. 1 is a plan view of the attaching member for connecting the base or shell structure withthe'back of the binder, and showing par- .50 ticularly the stamped-out teeth and themem- 192s. Seria1 No.273,171.

bers for connecting the attaching means to the shellstructure.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 and showingthe struckout teeth position ready for engagement with the cloth fastener.

' Fig. 3 is a View illustrating thenext step in the method wherein the struck-out teeth have been projected through the cloth strip and turned over to secure the cloth strip to the metallic attachingmember. j

Fig. 4 is an end. elevation, partly in section, illustrating the binder mechanism incomplete assembly with the back of the binder.

Fig; 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig/l. 1 i

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5, and illustrating the slight 1y modified manner of connecting the stripof fabric to the inside cover of the binder.

Fig. 7 isa longitudinal sectionalview taken on line 7 -7 of Fig. 5, and illustrating the preferred manner of assembling the shell of the binder mechanism to the attaching. member.

Fig.8 is a sectional View taken on line 88 of Fig.17. 1 I r Fig. 9 is a perspective fragmentary View partly in section, of'the ba'ckmember of the binder and the attaching member before final assembly, and also showing a further modified manner of connecting the fabric strip with the inside cover of the binder.

It lwillbe understood that in loose leaf binders of this'type'it is very important that the back of the binder presents a very smooth appearance, and that to so accomplish this result it is necessary to eliminate'rivets'and the like, such as are used in the cheaper binders.

In illustrating my invention I have shown it as embodied in connection with a standard binder cover which may be generally designated 1 and which has a back portion which may be designated 2. This back portion is reinforced by an attaching member 3 as illus- T s PATENT OFFICE trated ihFig; 2 which is arcuate incrossto give lt'the' arcuat'e cross-section, but it is in the same operation stamped to provide a series of teeth or pointed projections 1. It is also preferably stamped to provide two upstanding eyelets 5 one at each end of the member 3, although if desired these eyelets or ring members 5 may be suitably secured to the member 3 by welding or riveting as desired.

The next step in forming my binder is to take a piece of fabric or cloth of such material as is usually used for the inner lining of the binder covers. This cloth may be just as wide as the binder cover and may itself form the inner lining or may be just slightly wider than the member 3, as shown in Fig. 3. In this figure the fabric strip designated 6 is shown secured to the attaching member 3 by the turning over of the teeth or projections l. These projections may be turned inwardly if desired, or outwardly as shown in Fig. 3, the point being that by turning the projections over, the fabric strip 6 is positively secured to the attaching member 3.

Regardless of whether the fabric strip 6 is of the entire width of the binder cover or is only of approximately the width of the attaching member 3 it may next be secured to the back 2 of the binder by gluing to the back the portion thereof which is below the attaching member 3. The attaching member 3 is thus positively secured to the back 2 of the binder and thus presents a very smooth surface such as is required in binders of the better type.

If the fabric strip 6 isintended to form also the lining for the cover, it will assume the form shown in Fig. 4; and thus be one continuous strip. However, it may be formed as shown in Fig. 6 wherein the fabric strip 6 extends slightly beyond the sides of the attaching member 3, and may thus be glued to a. separate lining 7, as shown in Fig. 9. A separate lining 8 may be provided which may be glued to the fabric strip 6 as at 9 and extend over the top of the attaching member 3. lVhatever the form used it will be obvious that the attaching member 3 will be securely held to the back of the binder, as the member is positively held to the fabric strip by the turned-over projections, and the fabric strip in turn serves as an efiicient medium for gluing to the back of the binder.

The base member of the binder mechanism preferably comprises a single shell 10 which extends the full length of the binder and has a surface which is contiguous and unbroken throughout its length. Each end of the shell 10 is inturned as shown in Fig. 7 to form an inwardly projecting portion 11 parallel to the top surface of the shell. This inwardly projecting portion 11 is provided with an aperture 12 which, of course, may be stamped in the shell before the same is shaped, or during the fabrication.

The shell 10 is also provided with inturned longitudinal beads 13 and 14, as shown in Fig. 6 for receiving the blades 15 and 16 which control the paper-receiving members 17 and 18.

The inturned portion 11 preferably extends below the bottom edge of the inturned beads 13 and 14 and the aperture 12 therein is of suflicient size to receive the eyelet 5 therein. It will be obvious from this construction that in order to assemble the single piece shell 10 to the attaching member 3 it is only necessary to place the shell in its proper position on top of the member 3 and to force a suitable pin 19 through the eyelet 5 and above the inturned portion 11 of the shell, there being sufiicient space between the inturned beads 13 and 14 and the inturned portion 11 to receive the pin 19. It will be understood that the means for attaching the inturned portion 11 to the attaching member may vary considerably and the two cooperating parts may even be spot-welded without departing from this invention.

It will thusbe seen that I have provided a very compact and neat appearing loose leaf binder structure having a single piece base member attached in a novel manner to a single attaching means, together with a novel method of positively securing the base member and its attaching means to the back of the binder.

What I claim is:

1. The method of securing a base member and paper-retaining means to the cover of a loose leaf binder, which comprises positively securing a fabric strip to the under side of an attaching member, gluing a portion of the strip to the back of the binder and then securing the base member and paper-retaining means to the exposed upper portion of the attaching member.

2. The method of securing a base member to the cover of a loose leaf binder, which comprises forming a metallic attaching member and punching out a plurality of projections from the member, piercing a fabric. strip with said projections and turning the same over to secure the fabric strip to the attaching member, and then gluing a portion of the fabric strip to the back of the binder.

3. The method of securing a base member and paper retaining means to the cover of a loose leaf binder, which comprises simultaneously shaping an attaching member to be arcuate in crossscction and punching out a series of projections therefrom, positioning a fabric strip adjacent the convex side of said attaching member and securing the same to the member by turning over theprojections, gluing the secured fabricstrip to the back of the binder and then securing a base member and paper-retaining means to the exposed upper surface of the attaching member.

4. The method of securing a base member to the cover of a loose leaf binder, which comprises positively securing a strip of fabric to the bottom portion of an attaching means, gluing the fabric to the back of the binder, providing a single piece shell for receiving and supporting paper-retaining means, and turning over the ends of said shell and securing the turned over end to the said attaching means, whereby said attaching means is completely concealed.

5. The method of fabricating and assembling binder mechanism for a loose leaf binder, which comprises securing a strip of fabric to the bottom of an attaching member having an eyelet extending upwardly at each end thereof, gluing the fabric to the back of the binder, providing a single piece shell structure for receiving paper-retaining means, the ends of the shell being bent inwardly and parallel to its upper surface, said inwardly bent ends having apertures therein for receiving said eyelet, and securing said single-piece shell to said attaching member by inserting means within said shell and through said eyelets.

6. A loose leaf binder, comprising in combination a binder cover having a portion thereof forming a back, a base member comprising a single shell extending substantially the length of the back of the binder and having inturned portions extending underneath and parallel to the surface of the shell, and an attaching member secured to the back of the binder and positioned entirely between the back and shell and having portions cooperating with the inturned portions of the shell for securingthe base member as a part of the binder.

7. A loose leaf binder, comprising in combination a back, an attaching member for shaping said back and securedthereto by an interposed strip of fabric, a base member comprising a shell, andj paper-retaining means positioned therein, said shell being attached to and completely covering said attaching member.

8. A loose leaf binder, comprising in commeans for securing the interengaging portions of the shell and attaching member together, said attaching member and securing means being concealed beneath the shell.

10. A loose leaf binder, comprising in combination an imperforate back portion, a shell a ture.

RICHARD M. WATSON.

bination a back, an attaching member secured to said back by an interposed piece of fabric, the fabric being secured to the attaching member and glued to the back, and a shell secured to said binder by'being directly connected to said attaching member, the said shell struc-f ture covering said attaching member when p secured in position. V

9. A loose leaf binder, comprising in com bination a back, an attaching member secured to the binder adjacent the back, a base member comprising a shell extending substantially the length of the binder and having inturned portions, said'attaching member having means adapted to lnterengage with said inturned portions when the base member is placed over theattaching member, and

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